The protests were planned for the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, the origin of the communist regime in the then Czechoslovakia relinquishing power in 1989.
On Freedom Square in the capital Bratislava, the crowd chanted that they have had enough of Prime Minister Fico and that he should resign.
Fico's rule in Slovakia has been marked by polarization and recurring protests in major cities, not least because the prime minister has opposed support for Ukraine and met Russia's Vladimir Putin several times. The other day, he said that those who disagree with him on the Ukraine war "can go and fight the Russians themselves."
Recently, Fico's government also decided to cancel the national holiday on the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, which was described as an austerity measure.
"It has nothing to do with the economy or savings. The only thing Robert Fico wants to tell us is that the freedom celebration is meaningless, that freedom is meaningless. We value freedom and will not let anyone take it away from us," says opposition leader Michal Simecka.
